Brihuega Guadalajara | Lavender Fields in Spain

Brihuega Guadalajara | Lavender Fields in Spain

Brihuega is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Spain with a population of 2,835 inhabitants. In 1710 a battle took place in the township between Lord Stanhope’s troops and the Franco-Spanish army during the War of the Spanish Succession. The town was also the scene of brutal battles during the Battle of Guadalajara during the Spanish Civil War.

We headed to visit the lavender fields and explore the town a few Sundays ago and were not sorry at all we made the trip of around an hour (100 km) from Madrid centre.

What to see and do in Brihuega

Lavender festival

Brihuega has 30+ lavender fields (over 10,000 hectares) which can be found on the GU925 route. We stopped between Malacuera and Solanillos del Extremo.

The Lavender Fields

SHOP THIS LOOK ⇓

Every year during July (when the lavender gets harvested) you can attend the Festival de La Lavanda which started 7 years ago by a lavender field owner and became very popular. This year (2018) it was held on the 13th & 14th of July boasting two sunrise concerts with acts by Pitingo and Café Quijano and delicious food (click here to see the menu for this year´s event) created by 2-star Michelín chef, Dani García. If this is something you´d be interested in, be sure to keep an eye out for next years festivities because tickets sell out quickly. Just remember to stick to the all-white dress code 😉

During the time of the festival the people of the village go all out and decorate their homes with all sorts of purple decorations (photos below). Since the lavender festival started 7 years ago the town of Brihuega (with its aprox. 2,500 inhabitants) welcomes +20,000 visitors each year.

Purple Decorations

EL Lavadero de la Blanquina

This was a place for the villagers to wash their clothes and was constructed in 1905. It´s open to the public on weekdays from 10.00 – 18.00 and on bank holidays from 10.00 – 14.00.

Fuente de los Doce Caños

In front the ‘Lavadero’ we found La Fuente de los Doce Caños which is also known as the Fuente Blanquina. Fuente = Fountain.

Parque María Cristina also known as Las Eras

Parque María Cristina also known as Las Eras

Arabian Caves

These caves lie beneath Brihuega, head to the tourist office on the main square where you will get directions on how to enter.

San Felipe Church

The church of San Felipe is a beautiful Romanic style church (with a clear Gothic style) built in the XIII century. During the years it has been restored various times and the last time was in 1968.

Lavender Treats

We had the most delicious and moist lavender cake with ice cold lavender lemonade at La Celestina Café Boutique just opposite the San Felipe church). One of our favourite memories of the day 😊

Lavender Lemonade

Towns close to Brihuega

 OLMEDA DEL EXTREMO

Olmeda del Extremo

Olmeda del Extremo falls under the district of Brihuega and only has a population of 11 people  (as per there census in 2012). The principal occupation is farming. However, during weekends and holidays there are many more people that visit.

We stopped to take a look at the church named ´Iglesia de a Asunción´ dated from the 18th century and then made our way to a quaint street to take some photos (photo above – look at the colourful bougainvilleas!). Funny story: an old lady living in the house opposite looked at us strangely while pretending to fiddle with her bed sheets. I commented this on Instagram and got a reply from her daughter in Spanish saying that normally her Mother goes out pretenting to clean with a cloth but this day she was so surprised she forgot completely about the cloth and decided to fiddle with the sheets instead… What a small world thanks to geotagging and hashtags… LOL 😂

TORIJA

On our way from Brihuega we passed fields of sunflowers and stopped for some photos but unfortunately they were drooping which apparently means they are maturing their seeds…

About 10 minutes after we left the sunflower fields we stopped in Torija. According to the 2004 census, the municipality has a population of only 576 inhabitants. It has the cutest town hall that I have ever seen and the only place I know with a castle (Castille de Torija) right in front of the town hall in the main square of the village…

The Castle in Torija

The castle was constructed for protection during the 15th century (during the mediaval times). During the independent war it was destroyed on purpose to omit the French from occupying it but was however rebuilt in 1960 to replicate the original structure.

If you´re looking for somewhere to stay in Brihuega, the Hotel Spa Niwa is an excellent place and features a hydromassage thermal pool; a Finnish sauna; Scottish showers and Turkish baths. Massages are available too.

If you need to book a car while you´re in Spain you´ll love the super low prices at Rentalcars.com↓ Also perfect for booking your day trip to Brihuega 😊

I wrote a post here about my top 5 places to visit for a day from Madrid which includes Brihuega and Aranjuez where we live now. Hope you guys like that one too!

“A man of ordinary talent will always be ordinary, whether he travels or not; but a man of superior talent will go to pieces if he remains forever in the same place.” Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Hasta pronto

Johlene

xoxo

Side note: Most of the outfits in this post have been linked up here if you fancy checking them out for yourself 😉